Life is ripe with complex and unanswered questions. Often, contemplation of these difficult topics can enhance an individual’s understanding of both themselves and the world around them in meaningful ways. Despite the various misconceptions and stereotypes that frequently surround the genre, science fiction is often written for these types of introspective purposes. Although science fiction authors typically write fantastic tales that take place in a wide variety of futuristic societies, there are traces of reality that can be found within them. By reflecting upon the differences between these fictional societies and reality, whether they be good or bad, man of the problematic aspects and challenging philosophies of the real world can be made
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The protagonist of his piece is a young woman by the name of P. Burke who is described as “the ugly of the world” (Tiptree 2). A company called GTX selects her for an interesting marketing job that requires her to be plugged into a machine through skin electrodes that allow her to remotely control a beautiful but artificially grown human body named Delphi to subliminally advertise products to the public. When P. Burke first plugs in, Tiptree narrates, “Sitting up in the bed is the darlingest girl child you’ve EVER seen… Then she can’t resist rubbing her hands down over her minibreasts and belly. Because, you see, it’s the godawful P. Burke who is sitting there hugging her perfect girl-body, looking at you out of delighted eyes” (Tiptree 5). By using exaggerated descriptions such as “the ugly of the world” and “the darlingest girl child you’ve EVER seen,” Tiptree clearly distinguishes between the physical nature of the two characters in order to emphasize that they are distinct beings. Nevertheless, he also explicitly points out that it is P. Burke who is controlling Delphi’s “perfect girl-body” which creates an interesting situation for analysis. Both P. Burke and Delphi have clearly human bodies which according to Stone would qualify them both as such; however, since it is P. Burke who is controlling Delphi, there is actually only one person inhabiting two separate bodies thus calling into question whether or not a human body without natural life and sentience can even be considered a person itself. Without P. Burke plugged into the machine, Delphi would cease to function and live altogether even though she has a physical human body made of bones, muscle, and skin. This suggests that she cannot be a real person without her own consciousness to give life to
The protagonist of his piece is a young woman by the name of P. Burke who is described as “the ugly of the world” (Tiptree 2). A company called GTX selects her for an interesting marketing job that requires her to be plugged into a machine through skin electrodes that allow her to remotely control a beautiful but artificially grown human body named Delphi to subliminally advertise products to the public. When P. Burke first plugs in, Tiptree narrates, “Sitting up in the bed is the darlingest girl child you’ve EVER seen… Then she can’t resist rubbing her hands down over her minibreasts and belly. Because, you see, it’s the godawful P. Burke who is sitting there hugging her perfect girl-body, looking at you out of delighted eyes” (Tiptree 5). By using exaggerated descriptions such as “the ugly of the world” and “the darlingest girl child you’ve EVER seen,” Tiptree clearly distinguishes between the physical nature of the two characters in order to emphasize that they are distinct beings. Nevertheless, he also explicitly points out that it is P. Burke who is controlling Delphi’s “perfect girl-body” which creates an interesting situation for analysis. Both P. Burke and Delphi have clearly human bodies which according to Stone would qualify them both as such; however, since it is P. Burke who is controlling Delphi, there is actually only one person inhabiting two separate bodies thus calling into question whether or not a human body without natural life and sentience can even be considered a person itself. Without P. Burke plugged into the machine, Delphi would cease to function and live altogether even though she has a physical human body made of bones, muscle, and skin. This suggests that she cannot be a real person without her own consciousness to give life to